Been using my "Trademark" since 2001 and a ex friend stole it and made a website with my name under .org mine is .com. d

[Shimichanga M]

They set up a website, a twitter account Instagram and facebook the only thing they changed was they put .org at the end of it. They spelled it exactly the same and they even used it like me where I have it with a capital at the beginning and middle. Don't I have rights? They even put "The true -------" before it as if they had it first? I have text messages from them telling me they were going to do it intentionally also. Do I have a case.

[Nick]

You only have the rights if you patented the website. Saying it's trademarked but don't have any legal documentation saying you own a patent for the website or name you speak of, then you don't have the rights to the website

[Paul]

go see a lawyer

bet you never trade marked it though

[025]

Unless you registered that trademark, your rights are equivalent to zero. This is the Internet, where all kinds of things can be stolen from you. Intellectual property is only your property if you go through the motions and make sure that the courts will recognize your property.

Find a new name, and don't throw it out onto the social media before you've made it actually your OWN.

[Yeti]

It's a little hard to say without seeing the actual thing. This would mainly be a legal issue if you had a full-blown business running with a fairly unique name, and they started doing something that would confuse consumers about the source of goods or services. If these are just things like Twitter and Instagram accounts, you're generally not going to be suing over people using similar or identical names. If the person is really truly damaging somehow, you can look into suing them. But it's doubtful that what they're doing is costing you thousands of dollars, to make it worthwhile to look into.

[bcnu]

Just using a name for yourself does not make it a trademark. Using it to offer good or services automatically gives you the right to prevent others from creating a "likelihood of confusion" by using a similar brand for their own related stuff, assuming you started before they did. Registration is completely optional in the USA and you can sue in state or federal courts to enforce your non-registered rights, if you have proof of prior use AS A TRADEMARK, not merely trade name or decoration.

Also, a domain name is an internet address identifier, not a trademark. Can you register a trademark for a physical address of "17 Main Street"? Sure, but only if you have USED it as a trademark. The address "30 Rock" is a trademark.